Screening microorganisms with robust and stable protein expression and secretion capacity.

Robust and stable protein secretion is crucial for efficient recombinant protein production. Here, a novel and powerful platform using split GFP activated droplet sorting (SGADS) has been developed to significantly boost the yields of the protein of interest (POI). The SGADS platform leverages solubilizing peptide P17 and secretory expression in Bacillus subtilis to optimize two split GFP sensors: the P17-GFP1-9/GFP10-POI-GFP11 sensor for assessing protease activity and the P17-GFP1-10/GFP11-POI sensor for measuring secretion capacity.

Functional RNA mining using random high-throughput screening.

Functional RNA participates in various life processes in cells. However, there is currently a lack of effective methods to screen for functional RNA. Here, we developed a technology named random high-throughput screening (rHTS).

A gradient phage-assisted continuous evolution method for screening suppressor tRNAs in Escherichia coli.

Suppressor tRNAs, notable for their capability of reading through the stop codon while maintaining normal peptide synthesis, are promising in treating diseases caused by premature termination codons (PTC). However, the lack of effective engineering methods for suppressor tRNAs has curtailed their application potential. Here, we introduce a directed evolution technology that employs phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE), combined with gradient biosensors featuring various PTCs in the M13 gene III.

Directed Evolution of Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 to Utilize Allulose as Sole Carbon Source.

Sugar substitutes are popular due to their akin taste and low calories. However, excessive use of aspartame and erythritol can have varying effects. While D-allulose is presently deemed a secure alternative to sugar, its excessive consumption is not devoid of cellular stress implications.

Self-assembly of maltose-albumin nanoparticles for efficient targeting delivery and therapy in liver cancer.

The effective delivery and targeted release of drugs within tumor cells are critical factors in determining the therapeutic efficacy of nanomedicine. To achieve this objective, a conjugate of maltose (Mal) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was synthesized by the Maillard reaction and self-assembled into nanoparticles with active-targeting capabilities upon pH/heating induction. This nanoparticle could be effectively loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to form stable nanodrugs (Mal-BSA/DOX) that were sensitive to low pH or high glutathione (GSH), thereby achieving a rapid drug release (96.

Curcumin-Loaded Bamboo Shoot Cellulose Nanofibers: Characterization and In Vitro Studies.

Given its high biological and pharmacological activities, curcumin (CUR) offers promising applications in functional foods. However, its low stability and bioavailability have greatly hindered its application in the food industry. The present study prepared cellulose nanofiber (CNF) from bamboo shoot processing byproducts and investigated its potential as a low-cost carrier.

Interpretable thoracic pathologic prediction via learning group-disentangled representation.

Deep learning has brought a significant progress in medical image analysis. However, their lack of interpretability might bring high risk for wrong diagnosis with limited clinical knowledge embedding. In other words, we believe it's crucial for humans to interpret how deep learning work for medical analysis, thus appropriately adding knowledge constraints to correct the bias of wrong results.

CDT-CAD: Context-Aware Deformable Transformers for End-to-End Chest Abnormality Detection on X-Ray Images.

Deep learning methods have achieved great success in medical image analysis domain. However, most of them suffer from slow convergency and high computing cost, which prevents their further widely usage in practical scenarios. Moreover, it has been proved that exploring and embedding context knowledge in deep network can significantly improve accuracy.

Efficient isopropanol-butanol-ethanol (IBE) fermentation by a gene-modified solventogenic Clostridium species under the co-utilization of Fe(III) and butyrate.

To elevate the efficiency of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by the wild-type strain WK, an optimal co-utilization system (20 mM Fe and 5 g/L butyrate) was established to bring about a 22.22% increment in the yield of ABE mixtures with a significantly enhanced productivity (0.32 g/L/h).

Elimination of carbon catabolite repression through gene-modifying a solventogenic Clostridium sp. strain WK to enhance butanol production from the galactose-rich red seaweed.

With the determination of the Leloir pathway in a solventogenic wild-type strain WK through the transcriptional analysis, two pivotal genes (galK and galT) were systematically co-expressed to demonstrate a significantly enhanced galactose utilization for butanol production with the elimination of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). The gene-modified strain WK-Gal-4 could effectively co-utilize galactose and glucose by directly using an ultrasonication-assisted butyric acid-pretreated Gelidium amansii hydrolysate (BAU) as the substrate, exhibiting the optimal sugar consumption and butanol production from BAU of 20.31 g/L and 7.

Extracellular expression of agarolytic enzymes in Clostridium sp. strain and its application for butanol production from Gelidium amansii.

In this study, Clostridium sp. strain WK-AN1 carrying both genes of agarase (Aga0283) and neoagarobiose hydrolase (NH2780) were successfully constructed to convert agar polysaccharide directly into butanol, contributing to overcome the lack of algal hydrolases in solventogenic clostridia. Through the optimization by the Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and response surface methodology (RSM), a maximal butanol production of 6.

Unraveling the unique butyrate re-assimilation mechanism of Clostridium sp. strain WK and the application of butanol production from red seaweed Gelidium amansii through a distinct acidolytic pretreatment.

Exploration of the algae-derived biobutanol synthesis has become one of the hotspots due to its highly cost-effective and environment-friendly features. In this study, a solventogenic strain Clostridium sp. strain WK produced 13.

Microbial debromination of hexabromocyclododecanes.

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), a new sort of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), are globally prevalent and recalcitrant toxic environmental pollutants. HBCDs have been found in many environmental media and even in the human body, leading to serious health concerns. HBCDs are biodegradable in the environment.

Emerging technologies for genetic modification of solventogenic clostridia: From tool to strategy development.

Solventogenic clostridia has been considered as one of the most potential microbial cell factories for biofuel production in the biorefinery industry. However, the inherent shortcomings of clostridia strains such as low productivity, by-products formation and toxic tolerance still strongly restrict the large-scale application. Therefore, concerns regarding the genetic modification of solventogenic clostridia have spurred interests into the development of modern gene-editing tools.

Emerging technologies for conversion of sustainable algal biomass into value-added products: A state-of-the-art review.

Concerns regarding high energy demand and gradual depletion of fossil fuels have attracted the desire of seeking renewable and sustainable alternatives. Similar to but better than the first- and second-generation biomass, algae derived third-generation biorefinery aims to generate value-added products by microbial cell factories and has a great potential due to its abundant, carbohydrate-rich and lignin-lacking properties. However, it is crucial to establish an efficient process with higher competitiveness over the current petroleum industry to effectively utilize algal resources.

Acidolysis as a biorefinery approach to producing advanced bioenergy from macroalgal biomass: A state-of-the-art review.

Facing fossil fuels consumption and its accompanying environmental pollution, macroalgae, as a major part of the third-generation (3G) biomass, has great potential for bioenergy development due to its species-abundant, renewable and carbohydrate-rich properties. Diluted acid treatment is one of the most effective approaches to releasing fermentable sugars from macroalgal biomass in a short period, but the optimal conditions need to be explored to maximize the hydrolytic yield for the subsequent microbial conversion. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the latest advances in various acids and other auxiliary methods adopted to increase the hydrolytic efficiency of macroalgae.

Biobutanol production from sulfuric acid-pretreated red algal biomass by a newly isolated Clostridium sp. strain WK.

Marine biomass, especially the algal biomass, is currently considered to be one of the most potential candidates for biofuels conversion during the development of biomass utilization. In this study, a diluted sulfuric acid pretreatment method was established for biobutanol from red algal biomass Gelidium amansii using a newly isolated Clostridium sp. strain WK.

Enhanced bioconversion of hemicellulosic biomass by microbial consortium for biobutanol production with bioaugmentation strategy.

As a renewable and sustainable source for next-generation biofuel production, lignocellulosic biomass can be effectively utilized in environmentally friendly manner. In this study, a stable, xylan-utilizing, anaerobic microbial consortium MC1 enriched from mangrove sediments was established, and it was taxonomically identified that the genera Ruminococcus and Clostridium from this community played a crucial role in the substrate utilization. In addition, a butanol-producing Clostridium sp.

The Draft Genome Sequence of a Novel High-Efficient Butanol-Producing Bacterium Clostridium Diolis Strain WST.

A wild-type solventogenic strain Clostridium diolis WST, isolated from mangrove sediments, was characterized to produce high amount of butanol and acetone with negligible level of ethanol and acids from glucose via a unique acetone-butanol (AB) fermentation pathway. Through the genomic sequencing, the assembled draft genome of strain WST is calculated to be 5.85 Mb with a GC content of 29.

High-efficient production of biobutanol by a novel Clostridium sp. strain WST with uncontrolled pH strategy.

A novel Clostridium sp. strain WST isolated from mangrove sediments demonstrated its unique characteristics of producing high titer of biobutanol from low concentration of substrates via anaerobic fermentation. The strain is able to convert glucose and galactose to high amount of biobutanol up to 16.